Pseudomonas aeruginosa Hell

[Brody the Newf]

Hey all, we are in ear infection hell for several months now. Brody is on his 4th round of oral antibiotics, his 5th round of liquid antibiotics and we have now entered the $700 zone for treating his right ear.

I'm frustrated and poor. When not going to the vet, I've tried treating this on my own. I've tried Zymox, a bentadine-alchohol-vinegar-boric acid mix and the K-9 liquid with colloidal silver and nothing works.

Any ideas?

Other than the ear infection, Brody is great. He's a Good Dog and the Newf I've always dreamed of having.

 

[Bucephalus]

Sorry Brody's ears are bothering him so much! To save some $$$, see if your vet can phone prescriptions into Walmart. Walmart pharmacy may not carry all of what you need, but as an example of how much we saved, it was supposed to be nearly $300 for a 28-day round of Doxycycline from our vet. We got the full course at Walmart for a total of $28. The same drug, but so much cheaper through a huge pharmacy.

 

[padkins]

Have you looked into allergies? Indy has chronic ear infections and the main cause was allergies.

 

[Brody the Newf]

Have you looked into allergies? Indy has chronic ear infections and the main cause was allergies.

I switched Brody's food last month. The vet didn't think that had anything to with his current problem though.

Last fall we were in hot spot hell so I'm not ruling out allergies.

 

[Angela]

Pseudomonas is very difficult to treat. What antibiotics has he tried. Presumably the vet did sensitivities when he did the culture?
My Dudley had it in his nose and was on $$$ antibiotics for many weeks.

 

[Brody the Newf]

Sorry Brody's ears are bothering him so much! To save some $$$, see if your vet can phone prescriptions into Walmart. Walmart pharmacy may not carry all of what you need, but as an example of how much we saved, it was supposed to be nearly $300 for a 28-day round of Doxycycline from our vet. We got the full course at Walmart for a total of $28. The same drug, but so much cheaper through a huge pharmacy.

That's a good idea and it won't hurt to ask. I'm not too hopeful though. I'm not crazy about Brody's vet. I go to him because he's literally a minute away from my house.

If this round of treatment doesn't work, I'm switching vets.

 

[Brody the Newf]

Pseudomonas is very difficult to treat. What antibiotics has he tried. Presumably the vet did sensitivities when he did the culture?
My Dudley had it in his nose and was on $$$ antibiotics for many weeks.

He was on two rounds of antibiotics before the culture came back. I don't remember what the first one was.

Five days ago he finished up the Cephalexin. That got rid of the black slime and the swelling.

Today he was put on clindamycin/antirobe because he still has redness and now green pus.

I'm not sure what the drops are.

 

[victoria1140]

I'd think about food allergies as a first idea, perhaps there is an enviromental allergy that he has suddenly reacted to

 

[janices]

There is a solution called TrizEDTA.
http://www.petplace.com/drug-library/trizedta-dermapet/page1.aspx
Has this been tried in conjunction with the antibiotics?

The newf I ended up treating for pseudomonas, I was using Zymox when worst ear infection I'd ever seen occurred so I'm really skeptical Zymox works on anything anymore. My vet did not think it was allergies either. But I did end up changing out the food cause of possible PH alterations in the ear canal contributing to it cause it seemed to start once on this particular brand of food where she had no ear problems before. The whole line of food had got revamped, been on it few months, and I also found out had started outsourcing some of the ingredients. More than one newf was having problems with revamped line.

My vet also said because of severity the ear environment was probably now altered permanently and some type of maintenance would have to be done forever. Pseudomonas are difficult to treat and ran sensitivity cultures.

We ended up running 10 weeks of antibiotics, checks every 2 weeks, and pulled in TrizEDTA. In documentation on TrizEDTA it alters out the PH environment in ear and breaks down cell wall so antibiotics work more efficiently. But read documentation on it alters ear environment and can predispose to yeast which is what happened. Went to the other TrizEDTA combination cleaners which fight yeast too. There are 2, Mal-A-Ket and TrizUltra + Keto. Ran antibiotics 2 weeks out beyond when got clear culture to make sure, rechecks every 2 weeks to make sure what doing working and staying clear, now just using solutions. Not reoccurred.

 

[charlieinnj]

Heidi,

Do you have any Shop-Rite supermarkets near you? The ones near me offer FREE antibiotics. All they need is a script from the Vet.

 

[lmfoltyn]

I feel your frustration as this is what I went through with Jake for months. Nothing helped his infections, it went from yeast to bacterial back to yeast and back and forth. He ended up getting a steroid injection and we switched food and then did the Zymox, not the cleaner but the one you use for 14 days once a day. He hasn't had a problem since, thank God. Not sure which really helped the food or the Zymox.

 

[2newfs4now]

I agree with Victoria. Spend the money and have him allergy tested. You don't need to go to a specialist, your vet can draw blood and send it out to be tested for much less $$$.

 

[Brody the Newf]

Heidi,

Do you have any Shop-Rite supermarkets near you? The ones near me offer FREE antibiotics. All they need is a script from the Vet.

I do have one. Stop & Shop does also. Next time I'll ask for a prescription.

 

[nowhavethreebears]

Heidi,
Have you tried the Baytril/pred "injection" that is done directly in the ear canal?

The last time Sophie had an ear infection the culture grew heavy pseudo and her ear looked like it would rupture. Massive amounts of goop were coming out of it.

The Baytril and pred medication is inserted with a syringe directly down into the ear canal. Within three days she was probably 50 percent improved. Within ten days she was clear and she did not have another infection for about a year.

Only drawback is that during the time the med is in the ear you can't use anything else in the ear. I just used cotton pads and wiped away the goo that was on the top of the ear flap daily. The injection cost about 70.00 but it was well worth it due to it's effectiveness and speed.

Hope Brody feels better soon.

Turned out Sophie has chicken allergy.

 

[chumleysma]

Heidi,
Have you tried the Baytril/pred "injection" that is done directly in the ear canal?

The last time Sophie had an ear infection the culture grew heavy pseudo and her ear looked like it would rupture. Massive amounts of goop were coming out of it.

The Baytril and pred medication is inserted with a syringe directly down into the ear canal. Within three days she was probably 50 percent improved. Within ten days she was clear and she did not have another infection for about a year.

Only drawback is that during the time the med is in the ear you can't use anything else in the ear. I just used cotton pads and wiped away the goo that was on the top of the ear flap daily. The injection cost about 70.00 but it was well worth it due to it's effectiveness and speed.

Hope Brody feels better soon.

Turned out Sophie has chicken allergy.

I like the sound of this. I heard about this method having good results.
Baytril was the #1 antibiotic I saw used on pseudomonas (as seen by the sensitivity results.) It's moderately expensive, but it should be if it's that effective on pseudomonas. It should never be used on dogs still growing (orally). I highly doubt you'd ever see this drug offered for free. I would think that would be reserved for the older generation drugs and the penicillins which are already cheap.
I hope you find the right combo in fighting the infection. Once that's cleared, I hope you find the allergy source...not easy, I know.

 

[Brody the Newf]

Heidi,
Have you tried the Baytril/pred "injection" that is done directly in the ear canal?

The last time Sophie had an ear infection the culture grew heavy pseudo and her ear looked like it would rupture. Massive amounts of goop were coming out of it.

The Baytril and pred medication is inserted with a syringe directly down into the ear canal. Within three days she was probably 50 percent improved. Within ten days she was clear and she did not have another infection for about a year.

Only drawback is that during the time the med is in the ear you can't use anything else in the ear. I just used cotton pads and wiped away the goo that was on the top of the ear flap daily. The injection cost about 70.00 but it was well worth it due to it's effectiveness and speed.

Hope Brody feels better soon.

Turned out Sophie has chicken allergy.

We'll go that route if it doesn't clear up with the round of stuff he's on now.

Thankfully his left ear is clean and healthy.

 

[mrs big dogs]

Most pharmacies will price match, call around and ask what the prices are for any med and they will price match

 

[nowhavethreebears]

Thankfully his left ear is clean and healthy

It is strange how only one ear is effected. Sophie's left is the one that gets bad. I don't think she's had an issue with the right one ever.....
I asked the vet once if there's any reason for it and he didn't have an answer.

 

[Brody the Newf]

It is strange how only one ear is effected. Sophie's left is the one that gets bad. I don't think she's had an issue with the right one ever.....
I asked the vet once if there's any reason for it and he didn't have an answer.

Yes it is odd. It's also odd to me that I didn't smell anything off. His infection went on longer than it had to because he didn't show any signs besides occasionally whimpering when I'd grab his collar at a certain spot. We'd check his head, the back of his neck and be stumped.

 

[Abbey]

When we first got Theona....she had raging ear infections. We treated for 6 weeks with no success. Finally, our vet gave us eye drops......Yes, Eye Drops to treat her ears. Believe it not, it worked. As soon as I get home, I'll post the name of the medicine.